Hannah Gosnell, Department of Geosciences, Oregon State University

Hannah Gosnell is Assistant Professor of Geography in the Geosciences Department at Oregon State University, where she is affiliated with the Sustainable Rural Communities Initiative and the Institute for Water and Watersheds. Her research interests have to do with the interconnections between demographic change, rural land use change, and water resource management in the American West; and the ways in which laws and institutions might evolve to better reflect changing geographies. Professor Gosnell has published her research in Society & Natural Resources, Journal of the American Water Resources Association, Rangeland Ecology and Management, Natural Resources Journal, and Mountain Research & Development. She earned her MA and PhD degrees in Geography from the University of Colorado in 2000, and then served as a Professional Research Associate at CU's Center of the American West until 2006, co-managing the Ranchland Ownership Dynamics Project. She holds a BA in American Civilization from Brown University.

Hannah lives in Corvallis with her husband, John Schneider, and daughters, Emma and Phoebe, and strives for outdoor adventure whenever possible to remind herself why she fell in love with and started studying the landscapes of the American West 20 years ago.

Patricia McCaig, McCaig Communications & Opinion Research, Inc.

Patricia has more than twenty-five years of experience in the Pacific Northwest assessing citizen perceptions and developing strategic communication plans. Her background includes political, legislative and public policy experience as an advocate, campaign manager, chief of staff, elected official and a public opinion researcher. She brings to her work an understanding of effective ways to use research to help inform policymakers and build public support for complex public policy. Much of her work in the past decade has involved exploring different funding mechanisms for public services, assessing the public's willingness to pay for services and developing communication strategies to build public support. Recently she has led public opinion research projects on school funding, reproductive healthcare, affordable housing, funding open space acquisitions, natural resource protection incentives, and park maintenance, programs, facilities and funding.

When asked in a recent interview what person or experience had taught her the most about leadership and how to apply it in her day-to-day work, she volunteered Omar Bradley, the general in charge of coordinating the allied forces invasion of Normandy; strategy, planning, coordination, flexibility, discipline, managing others to deliver their best.

Anne Tillery, Pyramid Communications

Anne Tillery is managing partner of the progressive public affairs firm Pyramid Communications, directing projects and overseeing the day-to-day running of the firm. She is the lead strategist on many healthcare, environmental, education, and arts and culture accounts. Anne brings a strategic focus, balancing thoughtful planning and a creative approach to problem-solving. Recently, she has brought her experience to the Trust for Public Land Washington, Pacific Science Center, Washington Education Foundation’s College and Career Readiness Campaign, Wildland Project’s Spine of the Continent Campaign, Museum of History and Industry, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s national program on improving chronic illness care.

David Thomson, Training Resources for the Environmental Community

David Thomson is a senior associate at Training Resources for the Environmental Community. He has 20 years experience working as a leader, trainer and consultant in both the private and public sector. His specialties include leadership development, governance, coaching, strategic planning, change management and team development. David spent eight years working with Outward Bound, where he was in a senior management role. David works with Organizational Effectiveness Program clients, Leadership Development Program clients and provides Customized Training and Consulting services on a range of topics, including strategic planning and board development. David is the National Board Past-President of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

Kathleen Welch, Pew Charitable Trusts

For more than 25 years, Kathleen Welch has been engaged in public interest advocacy at the state and national level. She began her career as an organizer in Texas, working with whistleblowers and local groups challenging the licensing of a nuclear power plant, and has since spent many years promoting clean energy and fighting global warming. Kathleen currently serves as the Deputy Director of the Environment Program at the Pew Charitable Trusts, where she is involved in the management of programs to protect ocean life and wilderness and to advance solutions to global warming. She also oversees the Trusts’ strategy to secure mandatory limits on global warming pollution in the United States. Before joining the Trusts in 1999, Welch worked as a management consultant for non-profit organizations, served as government relations and managing program counsel for the Legal Services Corporation, was the executive director of the National Association for Public Interest Law, and coordinated energy policy for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and NYPIRG.

Kathleen and her partner, Shelley Hearne, live in Washington, D.C. and enjoy frequent escapes to far flung places to ski, paddle, hike, and cycle. They dream of a permanent escape from the city and the national political scene, and as soon as the global warming problem is solved (or maybe sooner), they hope to relocate to a yet-to-be-determined community surrounded by superlative nature and great friends.